Revision of the European Seed Law The Needs of the Organic Breeding Sector SANTE Advisory Group Brussels, January 30th 2015 Gebhard Rossmanith, CEO Bingenheimer Saatgut AG member of IFOAM EU Group Seed Expert Group
IFOAM EU GROUP The EU Group of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements is the European umbrella organisation for organic food and farming Fights for the adoption of ecologically, socially and economically sound agriculture systems based on the principles of organic agriculture health, ecology, fairness and care More than 160 member organisations Work spans the entire organic food chain and beyond: from farmers and processors, retailers, certifiers, consultants, traders and researchers to environmental and consumer advocacy bodies
Varieties for Organic Farming? What makes the difference: Organic Agriculture (OA) is an alternative to conventional and industrial agriculture, legally defined by Regulation (EC) No 834/2007. OA forbids the use of GMOs and pesticides. It is based on a systemic approach, considers the interaction between the plants and their environments, and is a driver for agronomic innovation. In consequence OA needs plant varieties adapted to low input, as well as different climatic and geographic conditions, which are more resistant to diseases and which bear excellent qualities in terms of taste and nutritional value. Organic Breeding is working on these aims.
Organic Breeding develops plant varieties within the Organic Farming System. Consequently All methods and techniques used have to be in line with the principles of Organic Agriculture Diversity is at the heart of organic breeding: diversity of varieties, and genetic diversity within a given bred or population. Experiments with mixtures and composite crosses are desirable. Plants used must be fertile and reproducible (no sterile hybrids, no inbred lines).
Key messages The European seed law - Current system The current system of the European Seed Legislation causes trouble to Organic Breeders and seed suppliers in Europe: Uniformity requirements are not adapted to open pollinating / organic varieties Number of traits in technical DUS protocols increased over last years, now many traits are tested that are not important for organic breeders and farmers Loss of official testing sites leads to the problem that special climatic and geographic conditions are not considered.
Key messages The European seed law Change needed The current legal situation urgently needs a substantial change which recognises the diversity of different users and providers of seeds and plant propagating material, which creates rules adapted to the needs of each different sector, also Organic Agriculture and Organic Breeding Which considers biodiversity as a key value: Maintenance and further development of plant genetic diversity is key to secure food security of future generations. Which respects the exchange and informal sale of seeds between farmers, gardeners and users as an (agri-) cultural asset
Revision of the European Seed Law Proposal of the Commission May 2013 The proposal fails to provide better regulation: No guarantees for suitable, adapted DUS- and VCU testing criteria for Organic Breeding & Open pollinated populations Loss of many public testing facilities due to potential privatisation of testing Easier access with simplified registration presently available for amateur varieties would be closed for new bred varieties (ORD). Heterogenous Material is no sufficient solution. More bureaucracy as a burden for small scale, semiprofessional operators Thus: Substantial improvements are necessary to foster organic breeding!
Revision of the European Seed Law Demands of Organic Breeding Fair market access for new population varieties by adapting examination criteria for registration (DUS). Adapted examination criteria for varieties derived from Organic Breeding regards to value of cultivation and use (VCU). Adapted examination criteria regards to climatic and cultivation conditions: tests under organic conditions. Simplified regulation for varieties for commercial niche markets, also open for new breeds (ORD). Transparency on the breeding techniques used and intellectual property rights of varieties. No major legislative decisions left to delegated acts.
Example uniformity Criteria and number of tested traits have become adapted to hybrids and are not suitable for open pollinated varieties. Hybrid variety Organic variety Dunja F1 Serafina possible solution: e.g. pepo technical protocol / in 2014 adapted from absolute to relative uniformity registered in 2015
Example distinctiveness: Modern hybrid varieties are very similar (narrow genetic basis), to ensure distinctiveness, they must be tested for a huge number of traits Many of these traits and characteristics are not important for farmers and consumers at all Problem for Organic Breeding: the more traits have to be pressed into demanded uniformity, the higher the risk to fail in DUS examination possible solutions: - Adapted criteria for registration without variety plant protection - variety- description with use of frequencies in traits expression (as still standard in forage crops)
Example stability: Problem for Organic Breeding: Regulation is standardized on and thus favoring uniform F1 hybrids Natural ability of population varieties to develop leads to better adaptation but small changes over generations. But this is not accepted. Adaptation of varieties to special and changing diverse conditions are part of concept for sustainability of Organic Farming. possible solutions: registration without variety plant protection Acceptance of nuances of changes in the expression of a variety after several times. New adjusting of variety description every 10 years.